BQ.1.1 subvariant: This Deadly COVID Twist Is Like Nothing We've Seen Before

[Celerity]

The new BQ.1.1 subvariant is spreading fast across Europe—and we’re not prepared for just how dangerous it could be.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/deadly-twist-in-covid-variant-takes-the-world-by-surprise



As the wave of COVID infections from the highly-contagious BA.5 subvariant finally subsided in late July, new subvariants were already competing for dominance—and the opportunity to drive the next wave of infections. A little over two months later, epidemiologists are close to naming a winner. In the United Kingdom, infections from a highly mutated subvariant called BQ.1.1 are doubling every week—a rate of growth that far exceeds other leading subvariants. In the U.S., BQ.1.1 is spreading twice as fast as its cousin subvariant BA.2.75.2.

Link to tweet

That means BQ.1.1 is very contagious. But that’s not the subvariant’s most alarming quality. What’s most worrying is that it also evades certain antibodies. In fact, BQ.1.1 seems to be the first form of COVID against which antibody therapies—evusheld and bebtelovimab, for instance—don’t work at all. Luckily, the best vaccines still work against BQ.1.1—especially the latest “bivalent” messenger-RNA boosters. Uptake of the new booster has been shockingly sluggish, however, meaning the new shots aren’t yet offering much protection on a population level.

We have the tools to defeat COVID. But “the reality is nobody is using the tools,” James Lawler, an infectious disease expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, told The Daily Beast. Highly contagious and immune-evasive, BQ.1.1 is poised to take advantage of an increasingly vulnerable global population as antibodies from vaccinations and past infection gradually wear off in the coming months. The question isn’t whether a fresh wave of infections is coming. It’s exactly when.

“We are stepping into a very fluid phase of the pandemic right now,” Edwin Michael, an epidemiologist at the Center for Global Health Infectious Disease Research at the University of South Florida, told The Daily Beast. Michael has built sophisticated computer models for simulating the COVID pandemic. BQ.1.1 wasn’t the inevitable winner of the viral competition that raged, mostly unseen, in the months following the peak of the BA.5 wave. There were other highly contagious and somewhat evasive subvariants, including BA.2.75.2 and BA.4.6.1.

snip

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. JHC do want I can to keep it from spreading.

[Celerity]

2. tens of millions like this asshole will make sure wave after wave smashes the US and elsewhere

[liberal_mama]

27. What a disgusting plague spreader! I have so little faith in humanity anymore.

These people who don't wear proper masks will just keep killing more and more people. They have no empathy or compassion for those who are high risk. And this asshole looks pretty high risk to me. Maybe he will have a nasty surprise again.

[tanyev]

3. Oh, great.

[Grasswire2]

4. so which one corresponds to the booster I just had?

I wonder.

[Celerity]

5. if you had the bivalent booster, then the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants, not this new one

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-moderna-pfizer-biontech-bivalent-covid-19-vaccines-use

[PSPS]

7. "the best vaccines still work against BQ.1.1--especially the latest "bivalent" messenger-RNA booster"

If your latest was the latest bivalent, you're protected. I'm getting mine next week, but will continue to wear a mask and avoid places that are still in denial and pretending it's over (i.e., groups of unmasked people.) I've managed to avoid infection so far. A vaccine that merely keeps you from dying or going to the hospital isn't good enough, since getting infected will inflict long covid and ruin the rest of your life.

[SunSeeker]

8. The article says the bivalent booster is effective against this new strain.

From the article excerpt in the OP:

Luckily, the best vaccines still work against BQ.1.1—especially the latest “bivalent” messenger-RNA boosters. 

If you just had a booster, that means you had the bivalent booster. That's the only booster you can get in the US right now.

[Maraya1969]

13. I don't understand the word, "Just" I had a booster about 1 month ago. Am I covered?

[LuckyCharms]

15. How many shots have you had in total?

Also, what brand was your initial dose?

[Maraya1969]

19. I've had 4 shots total and the first 2 were Maderna. I think they said the last one was Pfizer.

[LuckyCharms]

21. See my post #18.

It's kind of difficult to tell from here if your last shot was the regular 2nd booster or the bivalent booster, because of the timing.

See if it is notated on your card as "bivalent".

Best thing to do would be to call the pharmacy or the health department. They can tell by the lot numbers.

I'm pretty sure that if you got your last shot after the bivalents were released to the public, then they just skip the regular second booster and give you the bivalent instead.

[LuckyCharms]

18. Look at your vaccine card and count the number of shots that you have had.

I don't know how the Johnson and Johnson shot works as far as boosters, because the initial dose for that brand I believe is only one shot. However, if your initial dose was Pfizer or Moderna, the initial dose for those, before any boosters, was 2 shots.

So, assuming that your initial dose was Pfizer or Moderna, the sequence would go like this:

Shot 1: First initial dose
Shot 2: Second initial dose
Shot 3: First booster
Shot 4: Second booster
Shot 5: Bivalent booster

Therefore, if you have received a total of 5 shots, then your last booster was the bivalent booster.

If you have received a total of 4 shots, then your last booster would be either the second regular booster, or the bivalent booster, because the timing of your last shot seems to be close to when the bivalent booster became available.

Also, if you received 2 regular boosters, there is a waiting period before you can get the bivalent booster.

See if the last booster on your card says "bivalent".

If there is still some confusion, call the pharmacy or your health department to determine if your last shot was a regular booster, or the bivalent.

[Maraya1969]

20. It does say "bivalent" That is a relief. Thanks.

[LuckyCharms]

22. You're welcome. n/t

[SunSeeker]

32. If you got it after Labor Day, you got the bivalent booster and are covered.

The CDC signed off on updated versions of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s booster shots on Sept. 1, and pharmacies and other vaccination sites began administering the new shots around Labor Day weekend.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/updated-covid-booster-shots-doses-administered-cdc-rcna48960

[progree]

6. Europe new cases up 76% in the last 32 days (7 day moving average)

but down over the past day (again a 7 day moving average). I sometimes see one-or-two-day downhooks that disappear later - sometimes depends on time of day one looks at it and some countries not reporting yet.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-cases.html

Scroll to "Cases By Region". Europe is the light blue line.

Some European countries like Germany and Italy and Spain also have that one day downhook.

[Maraya1969]

14. No Paywall here. I think they shouldn't have a paywall on this information at all but....

https://archive.ph/gXDW1

[progree]

24. I'm shocked that you found it paywalled!!!! I've never registered, never paid a dime

accessed it on 2 different browsers..

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-cases.html

I've posted this innumerable times over the course of the pandemic, almost every time with "no paywall, no quota" and nobody has ever said anything about encountering a paywall before. Darn. Thanks for the archive.ph link

Edited to add: Well, darn, that archive.ph link is a snapshot taken in February! And it's a static page - one can't click on any of the buttons, e.g. Last 90 days. Or expand the table. Or sort by the headings. Or hover over the map to see a country's statistics pop up.

I found one that is 5 days old (with the same static flaws),

I just archived Oct 12: https://archive.ph/RXr1K

[Maraya1969]

30. Actually when I clicked your link I realized that they just wanted me to log in for the free account

So it is actually free. I just didn't look close enough

[progree]

31. That's good to hear. I'm surprised you have to log in, I hope you don't have to do that

every time!

It's possible I registered way back when 2+ years ago, and have never had to log in, or maybe once way back then.

[Ford_Prefect]

9. We've gone to sleep over this before and look what happened then!!!!!!!!!!

The "It's a hoax" crowd will howl loudly over this blaming Biden and The Liberal Agenda. Faux Spews will also rise to the occasion with spurious cure citations and alarmist anti-vax propaganda. GOP candidates and MSM pundits will get the details of the spread and the facts about the variant and correct vaccine wrong.

Abbott and DeSantis will both assert that thousands of illegals forcing their way across our un-guarded borders are rife with infection, and will initiate neo-fascist measures to round them up. GOP anti-democratic legislators will initiate new restrictive measures to protect the vote from anyone who looks lefty to them under the rubric that this new phase is jut the same old Commie agitprop.

[Delphinus]

16. One of the

larger hospitals in NE Indiana will be dropping their mask mandate this Friday.

[Marthe48]

23. R's more affected than Dems

by not taking it seriously. None of us should shrug it off, but Dems are more serious about getting the vaccine and boosters.

I read another post and saw on MSNBC that in comparisons in Fl. and Oh, up until the vaccines were avaliable, the deaths along party lines was about the same. After vaccination, deaths among Dems went down and deaths among r's went up. On top of everything else, r's must have a herd mentality death wish :/

[Hermit-The-Prog]

10. Thank Republican-minded people world wide for continuing mutations.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

11. K&R for the day crew.

Thanks for posting this important info, Celerity!......

Out of spite, Republicans will be scheduling extended winter vacations to Europe and bring duty-free BQ.1.1 back home on return......

[USALiberal]

12. Kick

[Sympthsical]

17. TLDR - get the bivalent booster

We're going to see some variation of this story every year for a while.

As people are outside more in the summer months, precautions drop, and people grow comfortable, COVID will spread around - particularly among the more socially active younger cohorts. Then it will grow colder, people will head indoors after having grown comfortable with fewer restrictions, and it'll start doing its thing.

This is going to go on as every winter approaches. One other aspect that is kind of mentioned is that natural immunity also wanes over time. Omicron blew through last December/January, and many of the people who contracted it will see that natural immunity falling off within a 12-16 month span. Most research suggests natural immunity will be annually cyclical in this way.

I wish the article was somewhat less breathless about it, however. We're going to have some variation of this every winter, like a flu on steroids. A yearly reminder to go into the colder season with a booster and best judgement precautions will be in order.

But writing it like Internet clickbait isn't useful. "COVID WILL KILL YOU WITH THIS ONE WEIRD TRICK!" Thanks, guys.

The article itself then spends half its time undercutting the drama of the headline. Boosters work, the spike protein mutations aren't crazy concerning in any scientifically alarming way. A lot of it is just stating what's become obvious.

[BlackSkimmer]

25. Scary stuff.

I've noticed quite a few threads from DUers who either have it or someone close to them does.

Been a while since I've seen those threads but they seem to be increasing.

[Deep State Witch]

26. It's Mutating

Faster than we can make vaccines against it.

[liberal_mama]

28. There is a nasty variant going around.This tweet is very concerning. Please mask & take precautions.

Link to tweet

[Beartracks]

29. "We have the tools to defeat COVID. But 'the reality is nobody is using the tools.' "

[Raftergirl]

33. My cousin who came back from Italy two weeks ago

and infected her kids, their spouses and two of her young grandchildren, likely had this variant. She did not test before going to see them, even though she had a “tickle” in her throat. Nor did she wear a mask. She was with her 10 month old grandchild for 6 hours that day.

She also did not get the bivalent booster before she went.

They were all extremely sick but she got it worse than anyone else. She finally tested negative yesterday, after 12 days. But, she is still completely exhausted and cannot go back to work yet.

I have no idea if she got Plaxovid, but her sister didn’t think she did.

I’m also 100% sure she never masked on her trip. I love my cousin but she is one of the most self centered person I know.